My count might be off by a few but I see 940 new members since 7-11-08. My dates might be off a bit also but that was the day the Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer found their rubber suit...or bought it. I love the fact that new membership is on the upswing and I will go out on a limb and say this incident is the root cause. How much damage or bad publicity did this cause?

Well, beeing a noob here, ( ) the "GA hoax" is the reason I am here. The story captured my interest and I wanted to know more. I was first at another forum but didnt care for that one, admins too heavy handed (not with me), so i came here. Everyone seems very friendly here and admins allow a good dialog.

Being a non-believer in BF, i can say the hoax has not done anything to damage my my opinion of the BF world. Just maybe certain individuals. I hope that someday I am proven wrong cause i WANT to believe, but it will take a body to prove to me that it exsists. The initial report of them having a body was what piqued my interest.

The daily average number of new members on the BFF was 10 in July. Over the past six days of hell we've just been through, it's been closer to 100. Is all publicity bad? I dunno.

hello....Seems this whole fiasco was a scam...for publicity for Tb's dvd's...all involved will recieve residuals from it...for perhaps years to come!...Think about it...All the finger pointing....everyones laughn all the way to the bank!

there is no such thing as bad publicity.

there is, however, poor spin control.

I say the more members the better! I think the more that the subject is brought into the general public's eyes the better it is. For one, even though the whole GA thing is a hoax, maybe it opens some people's eyes to the fact that these things are sighted in areas other than just the PNW. It has been my experience that even those laymen that are familiar with the "legend" of Bigfoot think that it is purely a PNW phenomenon and did not know that there are sightings in the South and so on. Maybe if nothing else it causes people to pay more attention and be more aware of their surroundings when camping/hunting etc.

We can say Now You Know, and Knowing's half the Battle!

Clearly this thing was doomed from the beginning and no chance of a proper spin could be put on it. I agree with nightscream that more members the better. I wonder about the damage and the scientific community getting further and further away when actual evidence needs to be reviewed. Maybe "bad publicity" is a poor choice of words. Do more people get more skeptical and the chance of verifying evidence get slimmer and slimmer?

I have to admit that I have been following the Georgia hoax closely. And having a good chuckle at TB's expense!
From what I have read, TB shelled out a $50,000 advance to the Georgia boys for the body... sight unseen. And now the Georgia boys cant be found. lol TB is up in arms claiming he has been hoodwinked. But I ask... who tosses out $50,000 for something they havent seen themselves? TB couldve spent $1000 to fly out and see the body for himself, before paying out any huge payment. But he didnt. Supposedly, the money came from private investors. If I was one of TB's private investors Id be mad as hell right now.

The good book says, " A fool and his money are soon parted." Well TB, youre a fool! And I for one will never give TB an ounce of credibility.

To the Georgia boys, thanks for the laugh. But spend TB's money fast. Something tells me he is working hard to set the law on you. I hope youre in Vegas gambling, drinking, and chasing loose women. lol

I dont think this has done very much damage to the BF community as a whole. But it has damaged certain people in it. Some of which had it coming. Like TB. Im not discouraged with this hoax. In fact it may help the BF community when the next big BF announcement happens. Major news medias may demand to see REAL proof before attending a press conference. And they will avoid TB like the plague.

And a warm welcome to all the new people here. I hope this hoax hasnt discouraged you, they happen all the time. Remember a few months back with the trail cam pics that supposedly showed BF? Turns out it was a bear. lol My advice is to be a little skeptical and enjoy the ride.

People love this kinda of stuff when there is contreversy.It s like a giant maginet it attracts them .So any type of bad publicity gets peoples interests.You keep wanting more and more.

This is like Patty and "Jacobs creature(bear)". It's like bees on a humming bird feeder.